Where Thou Art, That Is Home (Hetalia Fanfic)

Chapter 56~!

James' POV~

What I can't stand about the silent treatment is that I can't ever tell when it's working the way I want it to. Yeah, I called Uncle Felyks again and explained that being forward with my confessions wasn't giving me the desired results. So, guess what he suggested.

Reverse psychology. Ignore her as much as possible, maybe even direct my attention toward other girls to make her jealous.

It all sounded like a cliché Disney Channel movie, but at the same time I had a strange feeling that it might actually work. If it did, I wasn't going to complain about the methods at all!

Too bad it's hard to act like I'm interested in other girls. I mean, I'm totally straight as a rod fresh off the production line, seriously. I just have eyes for Nekochi, and only Nekochi.

Maybe she'll think my devotion is kind of sweet? Who knows. I sure don't understand how girls think, nor will I ever.

Since I'd made the call on Friday night, I implemented my plot for the first time while babysitting at Nekochi's house. It was kind of hard to ignore her when we were supposed to be working together, but I relented from asking her out the entire time (yeah, I even impressed myself!). After that, during school the next week I barely spared her a glance (well, one that she would notice. I had to be sure my plan was working, after all). I talked to other girls in my grade as well as some other guys, just trying to make some new acquaintances and all that.

But I wanted to see Nekochi.

When I was by myself, I started to think that maybe I'd ruined everything the first time I asked her to date me. We'd been friends for a long time, practically since we could walk, but had I messed that up by asking her? It seemed that I'd done something wrong when telling her I liked her a lot. She avoided me whenever possible. Because she didn't really like large crowds or even clusters of people, I never had to worry about talking to her with an audience. Still, it kind of hurt when she ducked away and averted her eyes from me completely.

I'm not being creepy, am I?

What if she thinks I've lost interest in her?

Well, that's basically the point, but what if she decides to find herself a boyfriend? An actual boyfriend?

Good God, I hope not...

 Anyway, I was chatting during lunch with a nice blond girl named Sarah from my A&P class when I spied Nekochi watching from a doorway. I flashed her a small smile (I couldn't help it, okay?) and turned back to my conversation, which was basically like studying for our next test because I was explaining a few things to Sarah. I wasn't sure what Nekochi did as a reaction, but I could wonder.

Maybe she looked surprised? Confused? A little jealous or upset?

Help a guy out, I'm really trying here! If this doesn't work, I don't think much of anything else will!

Nekochi's POV~

When I saw James being all buddy-buddy with Sarah from his grade, I was a little startled. I still hadn't heard another plea for my affections to be returned that day, and it was a little... odd. I guess I was just used to hearing him asking me over and over for a date. The distinct lack of his constant voice in my ear was just different.

I wasn't used to it.

Still, my mind went back to when he and I babysat Evan, Cassiopeia, Andromeda, and Louvel. It had been fun, actually. We played with them all, trying to keep them occupied and happy so we wouldn't have to deal with screaming or the crying of fat tears toddlers do. Evan and Louvel were pretty darn quiet, though, and that I appreciated greatly.